Our Miracle Child

As new parents, Diane and I were so proud of our little fella...in the words of my mother (who only got to spend 11 years with Philip)...he was our 'miracle child'...for it was only through the miracle of modern medicine and apparently my mom's prayers that Diane was even able to conceive. Doctors had determined that Diane had a built-in birth control mechanism that required drug-induced manipulation. Once detected and corrected, her playpen became a welcomed baby carriage. We struck oil immediately! We gushed with pride. But as time went by, we soon realized that little 'cone-head' had some issues. He couldn't keep his head upright until well past 12 months and when most two year olds were being terrible, Philip was quiet and relatively inactive.

When he did start to talk, it was only grunts and groans, accompanied by lots of pointing. He was trying desperately to communicate, and we were trying desperately to understand. After many visits to doctors, neurologists, psychologists,etc., it was determined that Philip had suffered severe head trauma during labour and delivery and certain areas of his brain had been damaged. (It was clear now to most that he was indeed my son!)

The following is a quote from just one of the many professionals who assessed Philip over those early years:

"At an early age Philip's apparent slow development of motor and language skills was of concern to his parents and prompted them to seek assistance while he was yet an infant. From that point up to the present, Philip (now 10) has had contact with pediatric consultants, psychologists, speech and language personnel, and an occupational therapist. Vision and hearing have also been checked. The picture which emerged from the various assessments was that of 'a generalized and global developmental retardation'".

Our 'miracle child' was suddenly himself in need of a miracle!

Movies R Us!

Philip is currently on a mission. He has accumulated approximately 250 movies over the past few years (VHS and DVD). I guess at the number...but he knows exactly. BECAUSE HE COUNTS THEM EVERY DAY...SOMETIMES TWO OR THREE TIMES A DAY! He'll find one in his back-pack, or under the bed, or his cousin will return one, and...you guessed it...HE HAS TO COUNT THEM ALL...AGAIN! Oh, we've tried to explain to him the convenience and expediency of organizing them...perhaps by number? (hello!)...or category...whatever. But no...ain't gonna happen in The Scorekeeper's world! "Philip, you just counted them an hour ago!" "I know, but I have to be sure". (grrrr !!!)

And now he's determined to watch all of them...and he's doing it by twos. One on the TV and one on a 10"portable compact DVD player. "I'll cut the time in half this way", he argues. (I'll cut my wrists before he views them all!) And, of course, he has to make a list of those he's watched AND a list of his favourites. Two more binders please...more pencils...more Tylenol - for mom and dad!